The Smell of Cigarette

I was imprisoned at home for two days! Not that I could not go out. The weather has been horrible. Smoky. I couldn't go for my rutine jogging. What else is to do when you're single? Going to a bar and drinking? I'm not a frequent bar visitor and certainly not a big drinker. Besides, I hate going to the same place regularly. It makes me sick. I go to different supermarkets, as much as I can, when it comes to shopping. 
I checked Environment Canada last night and decided to go to Bob Creek Wildland, the place that I've been to many times and failed to reach Thrift Peak as the ultimate goal. That seemed to be far away from the smoky area. Bad mistake. I woke up at 04:45 and went down and there was this strong smell of cigarettes! I  knew some lowlife trash in the neighbourhood regularly and even heavily smoke but I barely smell that! That is by the way one of the reasons I have planned to move out and find a nicer place. That was when I realized it was the damn smoke from the wildfires in British Columbia and perhaps Washington. 
I left home after loading my stuff but  turned back after only going as far as Piegan Tr.! I don't know what's wrong with me rather than being bored with going to the same destination and driving a long distance! I went for a little shopping and had breakfast and at around noon I said to myself: I can't sit like this. I have to go for jogging and I will see what happens. One guy was cycling when I reached there. I started jogging after 1 round of walking and finished the exercise with another round of walking. When I got home I felt a little discomfort but I'm fine now. If I die later soon and nobody notices at least you'll know what the caused has been! 

(Photo: You can clearly see the smoke in the air. Welcome to New Delhi! This area is not too big for cycling but it's safe because there're no car. My old Steve Bauer bicycle have been sitting in the garage for a long time. I don't know weather I should have it fixed, buy a new one or forget about it!)

The Roller Coaster Weather

Everyone who has lived in Alberta knows that the weather here could change in a matter of minutes. One minute the sun is shining and then hail starts raining on you. After a week of disgusting and polluted air which resembled Delhi, not that I've been there but I've seen the Independence Day Parade and I know how bad the weather is, shower and rain cleaned the air and the beautiful sky of Alberta could be seen again.
I went to Nose Creek Park for a walk and it was very beautiful but when I came back, the rain started. For that I canceled my today's hike! If I want to be honest with myself, the cancellation was mostly due to being lazy and not wanting to go alone but what's the difference?! I'm here and I know I didn't go! 

(Photo: Big, white, beautiful clouds, resembling vanilla ice cream are seen in the sky once again)

The Return of Disgusting, Smokey Summer!

I haven't gone for my regular jogging since Fri., the 6th. Almost a week. A nasty dark blanket of smoke has covered most of southern Alberta and the air pollution index reached 10, yesterday. Today is not better and we aren't in summer yet! This weekend will be the second week that I had planned to go hiking and I will not! I started hiking in May, last year and I achieved nothing! I decided to start in June and I have already missed two weeks due to lack of having a reliable vehicle, mostly and then air pollution. 
Since my first destination is Bob Creek, I told I would be away from pollution and will be able to enjoy the hike but I feared taking my old vehicle and rentals are too expensive and scarce! I was not able to find any rentals less than $210 and adding gasoline would make the cost of hike at least $250. Besides The pollution might have reached there as well. 
Nevertheless I will try to get a vehicle for the 20th and this time I want that summit! 

(Photo: This picture shows a few seconds before a plane lands in YYC. You can see how dark the sky is and there ain't no cloud! They even had the guiding lights which illuminates the path for the pilots at night, on!)

Near Misses in Japan and Canada

When I was in Arashiyama, a neighbourhood or suburb of Kyoto, just for a short while, I went to what it is known as Bamboo Forest, which in fact is, I would like to call it flystrip! It's a pathway of nearly 250 meters, perhaps, a little more than 800 feet where bamboo is grown, naturally, at both sides, alongside other plants. Most of the area is private property, houses and temples and you obviously cannot trespass, and they even have put signs in broken English to warn people. No one really jumps over the fence as it's quite high and the bush is thick. I was there one early morning, and a few flies(!) were there too! I took a few pictures and carried on. It is a very beautiful and quiet path, but I was not prepared to go to the summit of Mt. Ogura, which the path takes you to, but I went up a little bit. It was hot and humid, and my shirt was stuck to my chest. I could see the whole town from there, despite the fog. I took a few more pictures and head back down. By the time I was down, the path was crowded. I passed everyone and headed back to the hotel. 

A tribute to the departed. That is how it is shown in Japan. This was at the side of the path

There, the lady, at Hotel Sagano, was waiting for me and handed me a small pack of a few sandwiches! I remembered that I had read that it was part of the service, but I pretended that I did not know and asked her how much I should have paid. She said that it was included in the cost of the hotel. We have a proverb in the old country which goes " When you're hungry, you eat sand and rocks"! I was so hungry that I devoured the sandwiches, although I doubted that they were made in a hygiene-concerned facility or anything like that, but they tasted very good! I took a shower and then later that night I went for a walk. 

When I came back to Canada, I felt a sharp pain in my chest area, left side, both front and back but only when I moved. I quickly became worried: I damaged my heart! But how? I didn't do heavy exercises! I didn't do heavy lifting, and my sleep generally was good during the trip. The only explanation for that was that there were two factors involved:

1) I caught a cold when I was coming down the trail all sweaty.

2) My body was weakened tremendosuly due to lack of nutritious food and enough water. 

What else it could've been? So, I made an appointment with a family physician, and he told me that he did not believe it was my heart. He thought it was a muscle and told me to continue my joggings and come back if I feel anything. I went for jogging yesterday and not a thing. I'm not saying that the doctors cannot have a wrong biognosis, but I feel better and I'm going for a run again today. That was danger number one! 

I usually have the radio or the CD player on (I know both sounds very old! That's because I drive a very old vehicle) when I'm driving. I, at times, listen to the news on CBC 1, although most of the time is nonsense! And I get some good songs on different channels from time to time. 

With that said, I was driving home last week, with the music on and up, while I heard a bang! At first, I thought someone just hit me, but it was a quite road! So, I pulled over to see what it was but not right away as I didn't want to, obviously, block the road. I dismounted and there was a line on my rear door! Kind of like a long scrape but not too deep! No vehicle was around! I don't know if I had misheard something, and it was way before that point or what? I'm happy now that there was nothing significant or it would've affected my insurance, especially now that I'm trying to buy a new vehicle. That was danger number two!

Do I deserve a celebration?!

(Photo, top: A sign which points at the trail to Mt. Ogura. I, obviously, found out later. I didn't summit but it certainly is part of my second trip in next year, or perhaps a higher pick in the area)

Year 23 has just Started

This winter has been so disappointing so far. Today is the last day of November and I have not seen a day colder than-15 ℃ (5 ℉). It has snowed, I think, only 3 times. This means that we will have a hell(!) of a summer. It's about -8 ℃ (~17.5 ℉). Just came from jogging. It was good. I was going last night but became lazy. Then thought to myself: 22 years has passed since the day I landed in Canada, the country which has changed a lot. I know many refugees and poor people came to this country in the 60's and 70's but now it has been turned to a garbage of any country in the world which wishes to rid of its rubbish! There're so many problems: From high interest rate to affordable housing shortage to environmental issues. I'm tired. I also need to get ready for tomorrow. So I'm going to go. I was going to do something special yesterday but there was no time. Perhaps this weekend or any day in Dec.
(Photo: When Khmer Rouge took over Cambodia in the 70's, they declared a new calendar and considered that year, the year zero! Kids as young as the ones seen in this picture played a major role in the regime's rule. For me the year I came to Canada was not year zero but was not much better than that! I aimlessly drifted and paid no attention to anything. Now I'm not much better off but I know what I'm doing and my plans are made)

Confluence Park

Sometimes it doesn't matter how long you live in an area, it seems there're still places that you haven't seen, even for me who always is looking for new places to discover. I try to avoid the places that I've been, as much as I can but it's not always possible and cost more too! For example for jogging that I'be been doing it for the past 3 months or so, it's boring to do the usual neighbourhood. I, at times go to Nose Hill Park and I even have done my jogging in Downtown pathways! 
Today I decided to go where to this green area that has passed by few times. I checked the map and when I was there, the signed said: Confluence Park. I had never been to this place! I took the pathway and despite the drought the park was green. But what was greener was the adjacent golf course which was busy. The park's pathway which is part of Nose Creek Pathway goes up and you have a nice view of the course. Despite the warmth, it was not a bad walk and then I turned the other way and walk towards east which basically gets you close to Deerfoot Tr. I certainly didn't want to hear the traffic noise, besides there seem to be a bunch of people there, so there were good reasons to avoid there! (Hell is other people!). I ran the way back and continued a little bit to complete my 21 minutes. It'd be new jogging spot at least once a week until I get a job because I know it'd not be very easy to continue exercises but I do it now that I have the chance.

(Photo: I took a panoramic by my phone. I think it looks nice. There was an eagle circling above when first I enter the park and then sat in a tree in the center of this photo, which I don't think it can be seen)

A Jewel in Alberta

One of a very few smart decisions made in by City of Calgary is establishing Nose Hill Park in the northwestern part of the city. The fact that they were able to keep this part of the city away from the filthy palms of the nasty, stinking, greedy builders, is a bless. Builders or as they are stupidly called " Developers " here in North America (and everywhere else for that matter!) are one of nastiest, filthiest greedy animals in the entire universe. They grab  a bunch of guys, buy cheap material in bulk, steal lands and lots, with the help from municipalities and build, mostly, cheap, disgusting homes out of wood and make millions and millions of dollars every year. Their hands, as I just said, has been cut off that beautiful part of the city. I've been going to Nose Hill since 2003! Not frequently, especially now that I live outside the city, but I always enjoyed it.
I went there for a little walk yesterday around 11:00 and fortunately it was not crowded. I'm walking on a trail and as usual I'm looking for any photo-op although I only have my phone on me and all of a sudden I see two beautiful deer with big antlers staring at me! I had my phone in my hand, brought it up and tried not to spook them. I got a few shots and then left quietly, made sure I don't disturb their peace but I know the shot would have been amazing, had I have my camera on me. It was a beautiful day and surprisingly a bit cold. It was only 14 ℃ (~ 57 ℉) but there were a few people around. I regretted that I had not come earlier because after a few minutes I felt that I really needed to go! I left all the beauty behind and went back home before something catastrophic happens! 

(Photo: I think I should have at least one more walk with my camera before winter hits. Perhaps I'm lucky to catch these two or anything worth taking picture, once again)

Body Measurement

There's this sort of machine available at the training center which performs different body measurements. I think it's called InBody. I had not seen something like that anywhere else before and I have been wanting to do that in order to see in what shape, really, my body, is since I got here. I finally got the chance to do it this week. I think that was a quite old version of what the company makes but probably still valid. I was quite surprised by the results thought!

I had not exercised for a quite a while when I went there due to the knee pain I had. The measurement indicates that 24.9% of my body is fat! I do have a little, not even sensible by eyes, belly but my expectation was only around 10% or perhaps a little more! There are also other information available to the person there, which eventually shows on the printed report, including:

1) Basic Metabolic Rate. This one I like. This is the minimum number of calories needed to sustain life at resting state. It's said that it's directly correlated to the body mass. Mine is only 1695 Kcal which is surprisingly low because of the body mass I have. 

It's a good set of information, especially for the younger people who take fitness and physical activity seriously and eat healthy. Give it a try when you have the chance. 

(Photo: This is the machine but you need to feed that with basic data before the person goes on and hold those arm apart from his/her body and wait until the calculation is done)

Record Breaking Cold in Calgary

I woke up yesterday  morning and the first thing I did was checking the weather as I had heard that it would be very cold. Environment Canada showed -30 ℃ (-22 ℉) without windchill! I was so tired as I had worked out after work on Thu. and I think it was a very bad idea. I spent the rest of the day at home except for a minute in the afternoon that I took garbage out. It was then a little warmer, -20 ℃ (-4 ℉) without windchill and -29 ℃ (-20.2  ℉) with windchill. 

Today though it was a bit better so I'm not even going to mention the temperature because we know that the cold would not be much different. However after a coffee in a McDonald's I went to Repsol for a little exercise. I used to go to this place when it was called Talisman years ago. Now I guess Talisman Energy, one of the main sponsors and contributors has pulled out and they have changed the name to Repsol. The exercise was not bad regardless of the fact that I cannot work out even compare to how I used to do when I was in CFLRS, let alone back to 2011 which was the last year I had been to the place while it still had its old name. The place was busy but not in a way that you cannot easily do your work-outs. I enjoy going there despite its high cost and that is because I cannot exercise easily outside in the extreme cold and I'm going there only because I need to get ready a little for my upcoming training.
(Photo: Repsol advertisement near its northern entrance. I found out that Repsol is a Spanish name and is an energy company out of Madrid! This kind of stupidity is seen in Canada a lot as it, after all, is a capitalism society. China bought Nexen a few years ago, Peace Bridge on Bow River is designed by a Spanish fella, because there obviously is no designer in Canada and many other stupid things that you only see them in " ... Our home and empty[!] land")

The Boxing Day Walk

After disappointment over my walk in Christmas Day, I decided to walk on Boxing Day to test myself for the possible upcoming hike. This time I went out in the evening and selected Downtown. Boxing Day is a spending day for the majority of people in Canada. I only shopped grocery though! 

I started my walk at about 18:18 and waled towards east on a major road. I don't spend any time in Downtown as I hate traffic, noise, pay parking, homeless and such. For that a number of changes in the area was a surprise to me. Many businesses have been shut down and many more have been replaced. Most of the closed businesses were restaurants. With the minimum wage now gone up to $15 and average people making less money, no wonder restaurants are having a very hard time surviving, particularly the independent ones. I changed my direction and headed south after a while to reach Elbow River. It was not very cold but I think people were tired because of all day shopping and were all home. I managed to walk for 02:00 hours but was tired in the last 20 min. or so. I felt a little pain on my knees and tendons, they were, I believe. 

I was told that there was liquid in my knees when I was examined once in CFLRS clinic. I was told that no surgery would be essential but the knees bother me at time, especially if I sit on the floor and stand up. I don't think I will go anywhere far in New Year's Day but I might exercise a little. I haven't had much chance lately as a result of this disgusting job and laziness as well!
(Photo: This bridge is a replacement for the one which was destroyed during the 2013 flood. It is over Elbow River in Mission neighbourhood of Calgary) 

My Christmas Day Walk

Weather has sucked, generally, in the past 1 month or so! We barely have seen the real winter of Alberta except for two or maybe three times and they didn't last long. The first time I was in Nevada and wasn't affected at all. This Christmas was not entirely white as everyone wanted. No snow on Christmas Eve. No snow until the evening and it was not much either. 

I decided to have a little walk in the morning and selected Fish Creek Provincial Park. After my disappointing experience in last summer, it sounded not to be such a great choice but I just decided to actually walk on the pathway next to the park, partially parallel to Canyon Meadows Drive.

It appears that someone or possibly a group has spent quite a long time on building this teepee-like shelter here next to the pathway! 

It was cold but not unbearable. I realized that I'm weak now and that's because of the damn job I have, partially. I can't walk as much and as comfortable as I used to. I'm surprised that I did the hike of Telescope Peak with no difficulty! Perhaps the temperature is a factor here. It was almost -6 ℃ during the walk and I was lucky that there was no windchill. It's different from the mild California weather that we had during our hike! The entire walk didn't take more than 01:15 hours while originally I wanted to do at least 02:00 hours. Maybe the next week or New Years Day I can do some good walk or hike.
(Photo: A beautiful view of Fish Creek Provincial Park in winter. I like winter and I like winter walking and hiking)

Keeping the Good Work!

I decided to go for jogging for the second weekend in the row(!) despite the mixture of snow and yesterday and the amount of physical work that this new job have for me. This past weekend I decided to refresh the old good days memory by going to Glenmore Park! It was only -4℃ but a little wind was blowing. The park was not busy but there was people. I ran for 30 minutes this time although my thighs were both sore last Mon. and Tue. from the previous weekend's run. I guess if I keep doing it after only a month (4 or 5 weekends) my body will be ready for that. However I need good rest during the week and on weekends as well.

This time I also had the chance to check my new Fitbit and it seemed working fine. 

I need to keep these exercises as I might be needed to do the same as part of the new job training, If I'm sent for training! But apart from that exercise has always been part of my life although it has had it's ups and lows. Besides I'm not going to spend my whole life on this job! 

(Photo: This picture shows the amount of snow that the city has received in the past months or so. I got my socks socked because the wet snow turned into rain after a few minutes but that was OK. That's how I prepare myself for tough hikes!)

Back to Fitbit with Zip

My Fitbit tracking device, Flex, malfunctioned 17 months ago and my efforts to replace that did not get me a new one since the company did not accept the responsibility for the failure. I then saw the same product in the only store of CFLRS when I was there last year. The product was on sale but considering that the province of Quebec has a high PST I decided to purchase that when I was back to Alberta. Unlike what I had thought, no major retailer carried the device anymore. Similar to many other products, when a newer model emerges, the older ones become unavailable. I them checked the website and realized that product is eliminated from the company's list. On the other hand a less advanced model and the least expensive at the same time, Zip, was available! So I ordered that and here it is. 

It took me a few minutes to replace that with the other model in my profile, with the help of the Fitbit chat guy and it was and still fine. Zip looks as good as Flex and of course not as advance of the newer model which I would never spend money on. However there's something that makes it different from Flex and that is its dependency on battery. It uses a giant lentil-like(!)(really!) batter and the good thing is it was included. A Maxell brand made in Japan. A product that you rarely see these days as everything is made in China! It's a positive and at the same time negative feature of the device. The other good thing about Zip is it has a strong clip, unlike what I had though before I purchased that. It's barely possible that the device comes up during activities even running, jumping, etc. although I only have tried that for walking so far! 

(Photo: One of the very first models of activity tracking devices made by Fitbit, called zip, is shown here)

By the River After a Long Time

I went for jogging after probably more than 4 months today! With the job I've been doing and the weather which has been extreme, I became very hard for me to keep the kind of exercise that I used to perform, since I came back from CFLRS. 

My problem is I can't be unemployed and use up my money until I find something. So when I was offered this job, I took it and then when I was re-offered by the actual employer, I took it as well! Since I am considered as a candidate in a much better job (with the Federal Government) I'm hoping that after passing the preliminary steps I get myself to the training and have the job. 

Anyways I went for the jogging and it was good. Surprisingly not many people were on the pathway. I did 25 min. on a considerably good pace. Unfortunately I won't be able to keep it as a habit of every other day although I can get myself to the path, every day at about 16:45 and that's because I do lots of pushing, pulling and at times lifting, at this job of mine. Not to mention lots of lifting, at times. 

(Photo: This picture was not taken today. This is Bow River Pathway nearly 4 years ago in a month of May day! I might have a post for this on that time but I can't recall. Thought use it here because it's nice)

Left from a Kananaskis Walk

It has been cold in the past week and snowed a lot. It has snowed so much that I had problem driving around. Last night I had to drive around for nearly 7 min. to find a safe spot to park. A corner which I can get out easily without being stock and the chance of being hit by sliding cars in slim!

I wanted to get out of the damn city and do a hike or at least photography but the financial situation does not allow me to spend my hard-earned money on luxury such as that! I'm being very careful now and I only pay for basics: Food and gasoline. That's about it. I wanted to by a jacket back in December and I haven't purchased that because I thought that $200 and something, when the hard time comes, is more than 2 weeks groceries and food. 

This is the shit I'm in and I know most of the people don't care about that but that's not how I live. I have 3 credit cards and a Line of Credit with $0 debt! Two of my credit cards have given me $18,500 and $11,800 credit but I don't use them the way people use them here in North America. 

With all that in mind, I just wanted to say it was lots of fun when I could easily go wherever I wanted to and this picture on the top is from an easy hike back in 2015. This looks like a Cougar to me but my mistake at the time was not reporting that to Alberta Parks officials. This was taken in Kananaskis area while we were on Highway #66. I don't think its a Lynx unless it's short tail is taken into consideration. It could also be a Fox, again, not considering its tail. Coyote? I highly doubt that. Any ideas?

(Photo: A snowy April day in Kananaskis and an easy hike. I took the photo from the this animal and is coming back to me after more than 2.5 years. Who knows what it is? Look at the center of the picture, please)

The Feeling of Walking in -25 ℃

I went out this morning and it was really cold but it seemed that the extreme cold doesn't stop people from getting out. They go out but not on foot, mostly! They drive! And these days majority of people either drive an SUV or a van! There's barely anyone who drives  sedan unless he's broke or he has a modern sedan with good winter tires on. There are some in between. 

I wasn't out for a long time. I wanted to do a quick shopping and then spent an hour or two near the store in a McDonald's and worked on my volunteer job. 

In the evening though, after hours of sitting at the damn desk I decided to get some Olives for my salad. So I walked to a local grocery store for about 15 min. and bought some. It was not so bad. Then I decided to have a longer walk. That was not bad either. I was out in -25 ℃ (without wind-chill) for nearly 45 minutes! 

This picture is not clear but you can see the Owl almost in the centre

While walking on the sidewalk before getting myself to Bow River Pathway, I was about to pass a pillar and immediately after I passed, and looked at the corner, as this is my usual habit, I was taken aback! There was an Owl just sitting at that corner! It was looking at me and I was looking back while I couldn't get my eyes off its! I then stopped to take a photo of it but I was afraid to get close. If it had been injured or just simply sick of the extreme cold, it could have gouge my eyes out! So I took a photo from distance and the result (as you see here) is not great! 

I continued the walk and saw a few Snow Rabbits which is normal in the city even in other seasons. I wonder how they survive the winter as there's barely anything to eat. There was barely any cars on the roads. Let alone pedestrians! I was fine in trunk and arms and even feet and legs. The only part of my body which was feeling cold was my face. I didn't put my Balaklava on. The walk took between 21:35 and 22:20 which is probably not a very good time in this temperature, for an evening walk but it's not bad. Give it a try tomorrow night because that would be your last chance for a while. The temperature will be going up, according to Environment Canada (that you their forecast in the main photo of the post). I will have a walk again tomorrow and most definitely on Mon. There will even be a chance of jogging or skating on Mon. 

(Photo, top: Environment Canada's website shows tonight's temperature as well as the forecast for the next 4 days)

CFLRS Notes (41): Mewing(!)

There was a very nice Sergeant in the first platoon that I was part of, in CFLRS. A man from Quebec, like most of the instructors, he was patient with the recruits but tough when he had to. A number of people will recognize me now that I'm telling this story because there was something unique about this gentleman when it came to time keeping. 

There were several things that we had to do them in a very limited time during our training (or perhaps it'd be better to say during my failed training!). To name showering and dressing in a very limited time after exercise or as it's called in CFLRS, PT. This Sergeant had a mobile phone which he would set it for a certain time and it would mew(!) when the time was reached. So if we were lined up after PT but there still were recruits who had not lined up and we heard mewing, we knew we would be in trouble! The punishment would normally come in the format of Squat! 

This exercise is not too hard to do under normal circumstance but not too easy after PT and a hard week of other physical activities and sleepiness. The thigh muscles would hurt after a few minutes of seconds, depending on the person and recruits start moaning! 

We were mostly very sensitive toward this noise and one day one of the recruits, who happened to be a nice Caucasian man, imitated that sound and I attacked him verbally! I told him if he didn't stop, I would do something that he regrets that! The poor guy didn't say anything back and I later apologized to him. He soon left the platoon because he was a Reservist and I think he had been told that there are parts of the course that he didn't have to do. I saw him one last time with another group and that was it. 

I saw the Sergeant a few more times, including the night that he escorted me to the hospital in the town. We had a nice chat that night. Then I was transferred to TRP and then the second platoon and then TRP again and finally CAC/PAR. I said Hi to him and had always a pleasant encounter with him like almost all of the instructors and recruits in the school until I left. I wish him and all of the nice people of CFLRS a great life for ever. I'm happy that I'm our because that life style is not simply for me.
(Photo: Squat is frequently used as a form of punishment in CFLRS and this is exactly the recruits are required to perform that except for the fact that they are dressed!)

PARE

I did PARE in one of Alberta's town as part of a Government job application last week. It was fairly easy for someone like me who has done POPAT, COPAT, FORCE TEST 1 and FORCE TEST 2 and tons of other physical activities and tests. However I should not ignore the age fact. There were 8 to 10 people in the session altogether and I think there was only one close to me or slightly better than me. 

Unlike always I was a bit nervous before the test and that was not because I thought I would not be able to do that. It was because of the silly injury I got in the stupid job I've taken. My left knee hurt a lot and I used Voltaren to ease it's pain. 

Except for one guy, all of the others were out of shape. There were two hot Caucasian girls who were amazing in shape and look but struggled in the test. I assume they passed both eventually. 

PARE is fairly easy fitness test to pass unless you're really out of shape. I got 03:36 and I had one mistake. The time to beat is 04:45! I had over a minute to waste on the damn test, if I wanted to! I'm sure I could get a result of even less than 03:15 easily but I didn't see any reason why I should push myself that hard. 

I submitted my online application the very same day and now all I have to do is to wait and keep applying for other jobs while I'm doing this silly one! The other thing I'm thinking about is perhaps it wouldn't be a bad idea if I applied for as many jobs which require PARE as a requirement as possible since this result is valid for 6 months! What do you think?!

(Photo: Physical Abilities Readiness Evaluation test is a combination of running, jumping, going up the stairs, pulling and pushing weight and eventually lifting weight. For some reason it felt much easier to me compare to COPAT that I did more than a year ago. Readiness?)

CFLRS Notes (28): Bolt(s)

Bolt is a critical part of rifle that without it shooting does not occur. Bolt is assembled in to another part called Bolt Carrier and is put in the rifle in the back, just ahead of Cocking Handle. Bolt practically moves a round to the Chamber when it comes up from magazine. During the training in CFLRS, and I hope this is not a secret, when the recruits are assigned a rifle, the bolt is taken out, for safety reasons and is put in only during drill practice (to make it heavier!) and shooting. When the bolts are platoon members are out, they are all put in a box and a recruit is assigned to carry the box everywhere the platoon goes. I was in charge of one of the damn boxes which had more than 33 damn bolts and it was freaking heavy! And when I say heavy, I really mean it. I don't exaggerate. The staff usually would let me go ahead of the platoon because I was way slower than the rest. The other box, in our platoon, which was remarkably smaller than usual at the beginning, had only few bolt. The other guy didn't have much trouble but usually there are two guys who chase the platoon while hauling the damn boxes!

I wondered how heavy the damn box was and I was going to measure a bolt, consider the hallow parts of it's cylinder shape, calculate it's volume and using the density formula which is Density = Mass/Volume but I never got the chance! 

The act of putting in or pulling out the Bolt as usual and similar to everything else(!) in CFLRS should take place fast. However there's a time that the Bolt Carrier, which is casually is called Bolt, should be put with much attention and that's when the rifle is stripped (or disassembled) and is now is going to be re-assembled. There're are two tests to be performed before the Bolt can go back in: The first one is hitting the bolt on your palm to make sure that its components are not loose because if they give away when they are in the rifle, there will be a disaster to take them out. The second test which is not actually a test and is an extra step before the Bolt can go in, is to shake it well, downward in a way that rectangle-shape bolt is turned to its proper direction. 

The last thing to mention about this piece is one of the reasons why the Bolts are taken away from recruits which deprives them from a good practice on daily basis when they have the rifle in their possession. Apparently there has been a number of shooting previously in the school or other Canadian bases. A member went bananas and opened fire on people. They intent to prevent that in case someone got live rounds similar to Lowrance (Private Pyle) in Full Metal Jacket and kills someone! 

(Photo: A Bolt Carrier. The bolt is actually the piece at the right side of the assembly with a head similar to cogwheel and that is also one of the parts in the rifle which should be oil-free)

CFLRS Notes (26): The Second FORCE Test

The FORCE Test should be performed by the recruits for the second in week 8 of their training to see if they have improved or not. I have to admit that my improvement was even a surprise to myself. All the PT sessions and hard work paid. 

For those ones who don't know FORCE Test comprises of 4 exercises: 

1- Rushes of 20 m.: In this test the person runs between marked distances of 10 meters and every time he or she has to touches the line with his front foot first and then touches behind the line with both hands. 

2- Sandbag Lift: The person has to lift sandbags of 20 Kg which are put aside in a distance of 1.25 m., to height of 1 m. for 30 times in a specified time.

3- Loaded Shuffles: In this test the person has first take a sandbag of 20 Kg to the other side (I guess 20 m.) and return it, only while walking and then drops it and runs the same distance. This should be repeated twice.

4- Sandbag Drag: This, which feels the hardest one, is dragging a dummy made of four 20 Kg sandbags. The person has to carry one with his or her hand, increasing the weight to 100 Kg.

My time for the first part was 00:33 min. while the fastest person in the group got 00:29. It was possible for me to get closer to that. My time for the second part was 00:57 which was not bad at all. I don't recall the 3rd and 4th times but I was told by the examiners that I declined on the forth test. Overall I fall under Silver section with only 20 points from Gold which is a significant improvement from the first one. 

(Photo: This 4-section picture shows the starting positions of all 4 sections of the test)